Coronavirus in Turkey: reopening of the grand bazaar in Istanbul

Audio 01:25

Text by: Anne Andlauer

It had been closed since March 23 due to the new coronavirus epidemic. The grand bazaar in Istanbul, one of the oldest covered markets in the world, reopened on Monday, June 1. Its approximately 3,000 shops with 30,000 traders, weakened by more than two months of inactivity, impatiently await customers, under strict hygienic conditions. But foreign tourists, who keep the bazaar alive, may not be there this year.

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From our Istanbul correspondent,

The shutters creak a little: it had been two and a half months since it had been used. On this reopening morning, it's the big cleaning at the grand bazaar in Istanbul. We polish the windows of the jewelry stores, we vacuum the dust accumulated on the carpets, we dust the counterfeit bags.

And then there are the new gestures: taking the temperature at the entrance, wearing a mandatory mask, disinfectant spray all-round. Coskun Güler, silversmith and son of a silversmith at the grand bazaar, has the feeling of living an unprecedented moment in the history of this covered market built in the 15th century: "  I will tell my grandchildren ... it will have been a great lesson . From a health point of view, it reminded us all of how important hygiene is. From an economic point of view - with the loss of income we suffered - this crisis also reminded us of the value of our work.  "

Most of the 3,000 shops have reopened, but the essentials are missing to liven up the old bazaar: foreign tourists. International flights will not resume - at best - before mid-June. Hasim Güreli, vice-president of the Association of Merchants of the Grand Bazaar and carpet seller, already deplores a "lost year": " Normally, the Grand Bazaar is a place fairly impervious to Turkey's economic difficulties, crises…. .. as long as the tourists come! There, in my opinion, the season is dead. We will have to wait for next year ... "

Merchants are also aware that an influx of customers would pose a risk: seven of their colleagues have succumbed to the Covid-19.

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